Blaze's Special Talent
by Icy Fire 7
Summary: Blaze refuses to compete in figure skating or any of the other "feminine" Olympic events while in Vancouver, so she sets out to find a winter event with a competitive edge, and she finds that in the event of biathlon. She hopes for a medal, but with stiff competition and an oddly familiar hedgehog coming into the picture, that may be harder than she thought.


"Blaze, how am I going to teach you to skate if you won't even get on the ice?"

Blaze gripped firmly onto the rim of the rink, staring down at her wobbling feet. She couldn't even stand up straight with these skates. How could anyone even balance with them?

Amy skated up to her."Come on. You'll never be any good at figure skating standing out there."

"Who ever said I wanted to figure skate?" Blaze mumbled. She had only asked Amy for a skating lesson so that she may be able to try speed skating, but the pink hedgehog had assumed she wanted to _figure _skate, because that was what was expected from Blaze - to be the dainty, graceful princess who competed in the graceful, largely-feminine Olympic events.

And she was sick and tired of being dainty and graceful, and even more sick of competing in those events. She wanted to do something with an edge, something with danger, something with real, fierce competition, something that wasn't so dreadfully boring as figure skating.

"Don't worry, Blaze," said Amy, pulling her onto the ice. "You'll be doing beautiful twists and spins in no time."

But when Blaze got on the ice, she promptly slipped and fell on her bottom, pulling Amy down with her.

"Um, so maybe it will take a while, but we won't give up. Let's try again."

* * *

Amy was an optimistic person, but even she had to admit the situation was hopeless. Blaze's usual grace and balance was nonexistent on the ice. She couldn't even manage to move forward, much less skate at top speeds or do the spins Amy expected her to do. She felt so pathetically stupid.

She wished Amy had chosen a more secluded area to teach her to skate. The saturation of people in this area didn't help matters, and she bumped into quite a lot of them. It was embarrassing. All of these people here to see her - a _princess _- bumble around like a total idiot. Could her life get any worse?

She slipped again for what felt like the umpteenth time, and bumped into yet another person. She was about to apologize, but the other person beat her to it.

"Sorry, sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to do that. Gosh, I'm just so clumsy-"

Blaze looked up into a pair of golden eyes. And she knew right then and there her life would never be the same.

Amy skated up to them and giggled. "Well, look at you two. I didn't think you were so bold, Silver."

The gray hedgehog scrambled off of Blaze, muttering apologies and how Amy had the wrong idea. Blaze just sat up with a calm, collected look, but a million question ran through her head. Golden eyes...where had she seen those golden eyes?

Amy laughed even louder. "Oh, calm down, Silver. I was just kidding."

Silver scratched the back of his head. "Sure, Amy. I knew that." Silver glanced at Blaze. "I don't think I've met your friend before," he said.

"Oh, right! Gosh, we've all been so busy with the Olympics, I totally forgot you two haven't even met. Silver, this is-"

"I can introduce myself, Amy. I'm Blaze. It's nice to meet you, Silver."

"Nice to meet you too," he said, shaking her outstretched hand and helping her up. He gave her a warm smile, but Blaze saw something flash in his eyes. Confusion? Recognition? She wasn't too sure.

"Well, we would love to stay and chat," said Amy, "but we have some serious work to get done. Let's go, Blaze. We still need to work on your form."

Amy pulled her away, and Blaze did her best not to fall. She glanced back at Silver, who gave a small wave. Blaze noticed the odd blue markings on his hands. Were they just simple designs? But no, they were glowing. How quaint. Then again, Blaze found everything about this hedgehog to be rather quaint. But she also found that kind of nice.

He intrigued her. She was quite sure she had never met him (she would remember eyes like his). But something about him was so...familiar, and it drove her crazy not knowing what it was. She had to figure out just who this hedgehog was.

* * *

A few days later, Blaze was in a cozy coffee shop, staring down at her cup of hot cocoa. She'd had no luck finding an Olympic event perfect for her. She'd tried some, but they just didn't work for her. Everything having to do with skating was out, she didn't do well with a snowboard, she didn't want to do any team events, curling was too painfully slow, and she definitely wouldn't try ski jumping. When Tails had suggested it and shown her how high the hill and jump was, she immediately rejected it. Anything with heights or jumps was definitely out.

With her choices dwindling, Blaze felt just about ready to give up on the Winter Olympics altogether. None of the events gave her that competitive zeal she wanted.

"There has to be at least one winter sport I can manage," Blaze muttered, glaring at her cup.

"I might have a suggestion," a voice said.

Blaze jumped in surprise but relaxed when she saw that it was only Shadow. "Good morning, Shadow. How are you?"

He gave her a sidelong glance. "Since when were you so interested in my life?"

Blaze raised an eyebrow. Even though Shadow hadn't said it with a smirk, that statement sounded like something Sonic would say. She didn't tell him that, though. He'd probably blast her to Antarctica for comparing him to Sonic.

"It was just a simple question."

He shrugged. "It's a pointless question. I'm the same as I've always been and always will be."

Blaze shook her head, smiling slightly. Leave it to Shadow to over-analyze a simple question.

"But that doesn't matter. It sounds to me like you're having trouble with the Games."

Blaze sighed. "Yes. There just doesn't seem to be anything I can master."

"Ever thought of trying biathlon?" he said, taking a bite of a doughnut.

Biathlon? She hadn't even thought of that. Ever since ski jumping had been suggested to her, she had steered clear of the skiing competitions, thinking them all the same. Biathlon had completely blown over her head, since it was such an obscure event. But now that she thought of it, it seemed so perfect. The sport required speed, skill, and precision with a gun. Plus, the competition was bound to be fierce.

"Biathlon, huh?" she said. "Maybe. I'll consider it."

"Considering won't win you any medals." Shadow looked at her, a fire burning in his eyes. " I don't ever beg, but now...let me just say that I insist you compete in this event. The competition is absolutely pathetic, and I need a real challenge."

"What makes you think that I can give you a real challenge?"

"I know you, Blaze. You are a fierce, fiery competitor...uh, that pun was not intentional."

"Of course," Blaze said, chuckling. She found it odd how she and Shadow always shared this almost playful banter whenever they conversed, but she enjoyed it. Shadow was really quite friendly when he let down the walls around his heart and didn't dwell in the past.

"Nonetheless, you should at least think about the opportunity. You might not find anything better, so just try it."

She didn't have to think about it. She would compete in biathlon, because she had nothing better to do, anyway. Before she could give her answer, however, they heard a loud shrieking at the door. The two turned to see an assortment of girls with their screeching faces pressed on the glass. Blaze knew who they were immediately. Shadow's fangirls.

"That would be my cue to go," the hedgehog said. He scooped up his unusually large box of doughnuts and dashed out the back door just as the girls came pouring into the coffee shop, running after him at a speed that even Sonic would be impressed by. Blaze chuckled as she stood to leave. Shadow certainly was a unique character.

She thought of the new option given to her. She had never held a gun in her life, and she didn't even know if she could ski. It would take a lot of training to even hope to challenge Shadow. But who knows; maybe she would get lucky and win at least a bronze medal, silver if she tried hard enough.

Silver...such a nice name...

Blaze frowned as she thought of the hedgehog that had been on her mind the past few days. She didn't like how he kept invading her thoughts. Who was he to her except another one of Sonic's friends? He was just another regular-old hedgehog. Sure, he seemed a bit quirky and odd, and he did have beautiful eyes and a nice smile...and he was kind of cute...

Just as Blaze was about to smack herself for such thoughts, someone else did it for her. A person rammed into her at a high speed, causing both of them to topple to the ground. Blaze thought it had been Sonic who had run into her, because no one else could have been going that fast, but when she looked up, she didn't see a blue hedgehog.

It was a gray hedgehog.

Silver jumped up quickly, realizing who he had knocked down. "I'm so sorry, Blaze. I didn't mean to do that, I just...I-I'm really really sorry. Are you alright? Oh, I'm so stupid-"

"Silver..."

"Yes?"

"It's alright," she said, standing up and brushing off her clothes. "Although, we really need to stop meeting like this."

He smiled sheepishly. "Y-Yeah."

An awkward silence fell upon them. Blaze looked down the street and then, without meaning to, turned to Silver and said, "Walk with me?"

Silver seemed surprises by this but nonetheless said, "Sure." The two of them walked down the streets of Vancouver.

After a few minutes of silence, Blaze decided to break it herself, since it didn't seem that Silver would be the one to start talking. Soon, the awkward air around them just dissipated, and they chatted about anything as if they were the best of friends. She found out that he was from the future, and that they had both fought Eggman Nega. She found that fact too specific to be a coincidence.

When she told him that she was a princess from another dimension, he smiled and said that he had expected her to be royalty. When she asked why, he simply blushed and looked away, saying that he didn't know.

"So," he said, changing the subject. "Have you been competing in many Olympic events?"

Blaze frowned. "Unfortunately, not yet. I haven't found anything I'm really good at. But I am going to try biathlon. I've never done it before, but with the right practice I might become a formidable opponent."

"Biathlon...interesting." He was silent for a moment before saying, "I could help you train if you'd like."

Blaze turned to him. "You would do that?"

He turned away from her. "Well, I'm not nearly as good as Shadow, but I might be able to give you a few pointers." She was silent for a moment, and he took that the wrong way. "I-I mean, that is, if you want any help. I'm sure you would be amazing even without help. And you probably would want help from Shadow, since he's the real master at the event. I don't even know why I suggested-"

Blaze put a hand on his arm, silencing his rambling. She gave a small but kind smile and said, "Silver, I would appreciate your help."

Silver stared at her, almost surprised that she had accepted. "Really? I mean, I'm sure you can do better-"

"Don't put yourself down like that. I'm sure you'll be loads of help."

Silver stared at her. Then a smile grew across his face. "Well, alright then. Let's get going. I'll help you become a biathlon master if it's the last thing I do."

Blaze chuckled, something she seemed to be doing a lot of when Silver was with her. He stared ahead with a determined look, and she thought he looked rather adorable with that face.

_What is wrong with you, girl?_ said the cynical voice in her head. _You've never been this way for anyone. What makes him so special?_

She honestly didn't have a clue.

* * *

_Three days later..._

"Are you ready?"

Blaze didn't answer Silver. In fact, she was trying to pretend that he wasn't there as she strapped her skis on. She'd never be able to concentrate on the competition if he was on her mind, especially if she thought about their interactions the past few days - the way he had helped her with biathlon, the way he was so optimistic yet awkward, the way he always seemed to find a way to make her smile, the way he had held her when showing her the right way to hold the rifle...

She strapped said weapon onto her back almost angrily. Why did she keep having these thoughts? How could someone she had met only days ago change her like this? It took months before she let anyone come through her walls, and Silver had done so in a matter of days. He saw a side of her she barely showed to anyone, and it actually angered her that this one hedgehog could influence her in that way. Just who was this hedgehog? It frustrated her so much not knowing, she just wanted to punch someone in the face.

Maybe when the Summer Olympics came around, she could try boxing.

"Hey, Blaze, are you okay?" asked Silver. "You seem a little red in the face. Are you coming down with something?"

She resisted venting out her frustration on him. "You're so naive," she suddenly blurted.

He tilted his head to one side, as if trying to figure out why she had said that. Honestly, she didn't fully know why, either. It had rolled off her tongue so easily, as if she was used to saying it. But she was pretty sure she had never said anything like that to anyone before.

"I'm just a little nervous, Silver," she said. "The competition seems pretty tough."

Speaking of competition, her main threat Shadow was coming towards them. "I see you've decided to join the competition after all, Blaze." He looked to Silver and nodded his head respectfully. "Hello, Silver."

Silver smiled amicably. "Hey, Shadow."

"What brings you here?" Blaze asked. "Surely you would use this time to get in a little more practice."

He shrugged. "When you get to be as well-versed in a sport like I have with biathlon, practicing right before competitions seemed pointless, doesn't it? And besides, when I set my mind to something, I never fail to achieve it."

She put a hand on her hip. Did she sense cockiness in his voice? Well, she could be just as cocky. "That's funny, because the same applies to me as well."

A slight smirk crossed his features. "Right. Well, I simply came here to wish you luck." He stretched his hand out to her, which she took. "May the best man win."

Blaze made a face. He certainly knew how to get under her skin, didn't he? "Who ever said it had to be a man to win?" she said a bit playfully. "Don't get so confident, Shadow. I am perfectly capable of defeating you."

His eyes softened by a fraction of a degree, his smirk even wider. "Of course." And with that he walked away.

Blaze shook her head. "Who does that Shadow think he is, anyway? Right, Silver?"

But Silver didn't answer her. He just looked between Blaze and Shadow's retreating figure, and Blaze could see something flash across his eyes. Was it sadness? Or maybe...jealousy?

_Get a hold of yourself, girl. It's not gonna happen. _But she had to know if that was what he was thinking.

"If you think something is going on between me and Shadow, you are absolutely wrong."

Silver seemed startled. "H-How did you..."

"I could see it on you face."

Silver turned away, but she caught the slight blush on his face. "Am I really that easy to read?"

"A bit. But other people have looked between us like that before."

She wasn't sure, but she could have sworn she saw relief cross Silver's face before he smiled kindly at her. "Well, I guess it doesn't matter. You should get to the starting line. The event will be starting soon." He gave her a brief hug and slipped something into her hand. "For luck." And the he was gone.

Blaze opened her hand and looked down at the item he had given her. It was a small, star-shaped hair clip encrusted with twinkling blue gems. It was absolutely beautiful, and it was the nicest gift anyone had ever given her. She smiled as she put it on, but some of her earlier worries and frustrations started to creep back onto her.

_Now I'm definitely not going to get him out of my head._

She skied up to the starting line beside the four other competitors - Tails, Dr. Eggman, Waluigi, Daisy, and, of course, Shadow. She stretched her limbs a bit, trying to shake off her nervousness. She looked over at Shadow, who seemed to be the epitome of calm now. He turned to her and simply smirked. A sudden wave of competitive anger washed over her. She would wipe that smirk clean off his face!

She barely registered the sound of the starting gun until Shadow and the others pulled off before her. She swore under her breath and pushed forward, keeping her eyes trained on Shadow, who had taken an early lead.

She was able to pull ahead of Waluigi thanks to a quick boost, but the rascal stuck out one of his poles and tripped her, landing her back in last place. She felt her anger mounting. These competitors wanted to play dirty? Well, then she could too.

As they rounded the corner, the first hill appeared on the right. Blaze skied up to Waluigi's side and veered in that direction, forcing him to climb the hill while she still remained on the freeway. Only three more before she reached Shadow.

By the time she reached the first shooting area, the other competitors were already shooting and Shadow was already pulling away. Of course, he had shot all five targets perfectly. Before he skied off, he looked at her with an odd stare, as if to say, "_You can do better than that." _But she wouldn't let that discourage her. She simply pulled out her rifle and got into position.

She shot the first three targets easily. It was usually by the last target that her hand started to lock up in frustration, but this time her hands got shaky much earlier. And it didn't help her anxiety when she saw Silver, floating above the rest of the crowd and looking at her encouragingly-

Wait...floating?

She missed the next target, eliciting a string of colorful words from her. That was a whole minute added to her time. After shooting the remaining targets, she pulled off and glanced back to where she had seen Silver. Sure enough, there he was, floating above the crowd with an aqua green glow surrounding him. Since when could he do that? Oddly enough, she actually didn't find it so surprising for some reason. But that didn't mean she wasn't thoroughly pissed that he had distracted her once again.

She would give him a harsh scolding when this competition was over.

By some miracle, Blaze managed to pass Daisy and Eggman, landing her in third place. Sure, she did use some...interesting tactics to reach her current place, but in these competitions, there really weren't any rules against it; the only rule that matter was reaching the finish line by any means necessary.

Blaze was neck-and-neck with Tails, but Shadow was still so far ahead, just a dark speck against the snow and ice. Tails looked over at Blaze with his innocent blue eyes and then skidded towards her. She was forced to turn as well, making her go up the hill she hadn't seen until too late. As she was forced to climb the hill, Tails looked back at her with a look of sympathetic regret, which conflicted with the slight smirk that threatened to grow across his face. She couldn't believe it. The same thing she had done to Waluigi was done to her, and by Tails of all people.

Perhaps the young fox was more devious and cunning than she had given him credit for.

Luckily, she had an extra boost on her, so she easily went over the hill and eventually passed Tails. Now the only thing that stood between her and victory was Shadow.

If Shadow was surprised or impressed that she had managed to catch up, he didn't show it, as usual. He simply pulled out his rifle calmly and took aim, Blaze doing the same.

"I'm a bit disappointed, Blaze," he said as he shot. "I thought you would be more of a challenge, but it seems I was wrong."

If Blaze had shot right then, she would have missed. He thought she wasn't giving him much of a challenge. That made her blood boil. Arrogant jerk! She would show him a challenge.

But one look at Shadow's calm face told her that he had only said that to rile her up. Still, it still made her want to burn him to a crisp. If he wanted a challenge, he would get it.

Shadow pulled off seconds before her, but when she finish shooting her targets, she angrily lobbed a fireball at Shadow's feet. Shadow seemed to expect this and leaped up before the fire could hit his feet, but by doing this, he slowed down quite a bit, allowing Blaze to catch up.

"You're playing with fire, Shadow," she said. "Literally. It would be wise not to cross me."

He had the audacity to smirk once again. "I've never burned before. Why should now be any different?"

That was it. Blaze shoved into him, hoping to knock him over. But Shadow held his ground; Blaze only managed to slow him down a bit, giving her a slight lead by only a few centimeters. The finish line was only a few hundred meters ahead. Blaze and Shadow literally fought for the lead. If Blaze could just hold the lead for a few seconds...

Shadow yanked her backwards and used her to propel himself forward. She was just about to use fire to melt the path before Shadow when her sharp ears caught the sound of whooshing that definitely wasn't the wind. It was a sound she was all too familiar with after being forced to play Mario Kart for hours with the girls.

She slowed down significantly, allowing Shadow to maintain the lead. Shadow looked back and was surprised to see that Blaze had let herself get so far behind, until he also heard the sound. He tried slowing down so that Blaze could get hit as well, but it was too late. A blue, spiked she'll was already over his head and came down forcefully, knocking Shadow off his feet. Blaze was far enough so that the ripples of energy from the explosion didn't hit her, but close enough so that she could pass Shadow easily and gain a somewhat comfortable lead. Shadow wasted no time trying to catch up, but by the time he was within an arm's distance, Blaze had already crossed the finish line.

She skidded to a stop, realizing only the how exhausted she was. She put her hands on her knees and tried to catch her breath, waiting to see her final time. It didn't matter that she had finished first; that one target she had missed would add a whole minute to her time, which could be the one thing to deny her of victory.

She hardly noticed Silver walking up to her until he put his hand on her shoulder. "You were amazing," he said, which made her body temperature increase for some reason she didn't know. "But do you think it was enough?"

She hoped it was. The wait for the times to be shown felt like an eternity. She felt so nervous, she subconsciously took Silver's hand, which he wasn't complaining about.

At last the times were presented. Her eyes went straight up to her and Shadow's times and realized that her time was about two tenths of a second less than Shadow's. She had done it; she had managed to get first place.

She let out one whoop of victory and pumped her fist into the air, but not so much that she would get any attention. Even though she was ecstatic about winning, she didn't seem like she was too excited, but that was the most emotion she had ever shown about winning anything. Silver, however, had no problem showing how excited he was about her win. On an impulse, he lifted her into his arms and spun her around. Realizing what he was doing, he quickly put her down, that blush he always seemed to see on him growing on his face.

"I, um..." he started. "...Sorry about that. I-"

"It's fine, Silver," she said, smiling. She was confused when some part in the back of her mind wanted him to do that again.

Shadow came up to them, his eyes glittering with a light she had never seen in him before. He stuck his hand out to her, just as he did before the race. If she didn't know any better, she would have sworn she could see the ghost of a smile on his face.

"Now that is what I call a challenge," he said. "Congratulations, Blaze. You really did deserve the win."

"Thank you," she said while shaking his hand.

As he pulled away, Shadow's eyes went to Silver, and it seemed that a brief, silent conversation had been passed between them, which Silver seemed slightly uncomfortable with. Shadow gave a curt nod and simply walked away without another word. How odd.

Silver looked to Blaze with a smile, but it seemed more shy and nervous than usual. "Your performance out there was spectacular. Truly remarkable." He looked down at his feet, fidgeting just a bit. "I was wondering...if you would like to...maybe celebrate your victory a little afterwards. I mean, it's okay if you don't want to, but..."

Her eyes widened by the slightest margin. Silver didn't seem to be good with subtlety, so she imagine what he was getting at. Was he...?

Her eyes wandered to where Shadow had gone off, and sure enough, there he was, looking at them with that slight smirk of his before disappearing into the throng of people around them. As she turned back to Silver, she couldn't help but smile. Was Shadow seriously trying to play matchmaker? That was so unlike him. Usually, if anyone tried playing that game with her, she would try to scare off the one who was paired with her or just deck the one making the match, but this time she didn't even have the urge, and she still had no idea why, just as she didn't know what came over her when Silver was involved.

"I would love to, Silver," she said. She might never understand why Silver affected her in this way, but she was fine with starting this beautiful friendship with him.

* * *

**And that's a wrap. I honestly don't think this is my best work. I certainly don't think it's as good as Shadow's Special Talent, but I liked this idea.**

**There's a reference buried somewhere in the story. Shout out to anyone who can find it.**

**I'm probably wrong, but I think that Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games is the first game after Sonic '06 where Silver and Blaze can be seen in the same place. I wanted to add that aspect to the story, so this is what came out. If I'm wrong, feel free to correct me and let me know. Nonetheless, I hope you enjoyed!**


End file.
